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Top 10 of 2013

Top 10 of 2013

Justine Carter addresses the Randolph County School Board during their meeting to discuss reinstating the book "Invisible Man" into the reading curriculum in a not packed house 9.25.13. (PAUL CHURCH / THE COURIER-TRIBUNE)

Top 10 of 2013

Tim Lawson holds a sign while sitting outside the Randolph County Schools administration building prior to a meeting to discuss the ban of the book 'Invisible Man' 9.25.13. (PAUL CHURCH / THE COURIER-TRIBUNE)

Top 10 of 2013

New Superintendent Dr. Stephen Gainey talks during an interview at his office inside the Randolph County Schools Central Office 7.3.13. (PAUL CHURCH / THE COURIER-TRIBUNE)

By Mary Anderson, Kathi Keys, J.D. Walker and Chip Womick

What kind of year was 2013?

It was a year of protests, in which a book about an invisible man made Randolph County all too visible, prayer at a football game didn’t score so well with some folks and a proposed regional landfill had nearby residents talking trash. Animals also figured prominently, from popular animals dying at the N.C. Zoo to a local group organizing to build a no-kill shelter and pet community center. Making headlines were new digs (a revamped Sunset Theatre opened and work began for a senior adult center), new leaders (both the Randolph County and Asheboro City superintendents announced changes) and a new bypass (U.S. 311 opened). As usual, on the cops and court beat, the dark side of human nature surfaced, too.

So, here’s your Top 10 of 2013, as voted on by The Courier-Tribune staff, and compiled by staff writers Mary Anderson, Kathi Keys, J.D. Walker and Chip Womick.

1. “Invisible Man”

“Invisible Man” became the most read and sought-after book in Randolph County when it was banned in all Randolph County School System school libraries for about 10 days in September.

The ban of the acclaimed novel by Ralph Ellison stemmed from a Randleman High School parent’s complaint about the book which was one of three suggested summer reading selections for juniors to choose from for the 2013-14 school year.

The book, originally published in 1952, addresses many of the social and intellectual issues facing African-Americans in the first half of the 20th century.

The Randolph County Board of Education, by a 5-2 vote in September, sided with the parent and decided to ban the book. In favor of the ban were board members Tracy Boyles, Gary Cook, Matthew Lambeth, Tommy McDonald and Gary Mason. Board members Emily Coltrane and Todd Cutler voted against it.

Following board policy, the parental complaint was first reviewed by an RHS committee and then a district-level group. Both had recommended to the board that the book not be removed from school libraries.

The board’s book ban decision surprised and upset a lot of local residents. It prompted numerous letters to the editor and plenty of comments on The Courier-Tribune website.

And the book ban caught the attention of the world, even appearing on Russian TV. A Google search for “Invisible Man Randolph County” revealed pages and pages of results due to media outlets publishing and posting the information, linking it to the newspaper’s original story about the decision. Free copies of the book were made available to high school students and available copies quickly sold out.

Board members were advised not to discuss their decision concerning the ban and whether or not they had read the book which had been supplied to them to read prior to the vote.

They, however, decided to take another look at the book ban and held a special meeting the following week when the board overturned its original decision, voting 6-1 to not ban the book from county school libraries. The opposing vote was cast by board member Gary Mason who indicated that, after reading the book a second time, he didn’t feel it was appropriate material for children or young teens to read.

“Invisible Man” won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1953 and was acclaimed by a 1965 Book Week poll of 200 prominent authors, critics and editors as “the most distinguished single work published in the last 20 years.” It was named one of the “Books that Shaped America” by the Library of Congress.

2. N.C. Zoo

The N.C. Zoo experienced a bittersweet year, showcasing the frolics of its many youngsters, but also dealing with the unexpected losses of popular high-profile animals.

Nik, 21, a silverback Western lowland gorilla who fathered the two male 1-year-olds, and Aquila, 20, who made his first appearance at the zoo along with his two polar bear siblings in 1994, died a week apart in September.

A new zoo animal, Storm, was on public exhibit about 10 days when the 17-month-old female California sea lion died in December.

All three deaths were described by zoo officials as unexpected and unrelated, but not unusual in the zoo world.

Willie, 28, who was at the Milwaukee Zoo for more than two years while the polar bear exhibit was being renovated and expanded, also died in October at that park.

But, Apollo and Bomassa, the male gorillas born weeks apart in August 2012, continued to delight zoo visitors with their antics under the ever-watchful eyes of their mothers and a third female who lost her 3-day-old offspring in July.

The zoo’s chimpanzee youth also were a huge hit with visitors. Four females — including two 1-year-olds, Gigi and Genie — went on exhibit in January for the first time after their transfer to the zoo. Ebi, who was born nearly 2 years ago at the zoo, is also part of the group as is Nori, born in 2010. The troop now contains 16 members, on exhibit in alternating group compositions, and is one of the largest chimp collections in American zoos. There are young ones, too, in the Hamaydryas baboon collection, the largest troop in any zoo in America.

The zoo also concluded a successful second season of hosting animatronic dinosaurs. Giant bugs, “Bugs: An Epic Adventure,” will invade the N.C. Zoo in 2014 when the state park marks its 40th anniversary.

3. Sunset Theatre

A downtown Asheboro landmark reopened to rave reviews in September 2013 after being closed more than a year for a $1.7 million renovation and expansion.

The Sunset Theatre opened on March 6, 1930. It served as a movie house until the 1970s, and then was used variously as an entertainment venue and home to a succession of churches until the members of the George Washington Carver Community Enrichment Center bought it in 2000.

GWCCEC is the modern-day descendant of Asheboro’s George Washington Carver College that operated in the 1940s for black residents of the area. They purchased the 5,000-square-foot building with dreams of creating a performing arts center, but the project proved too costly.

When he was mayor, David Jarrell championed the idea of buying the historic structure and carrying on the GWCCEC dream. A first-class performing arts center in the city center, he said, would serve as the “crown jewel” of ongoing downtown revitalization.

The city bought the Sunset in December 2005 and a few months later purchased two adjacent buildings to accommodate expansion. A capital campaign, which kicked off in 2010, raised nearly $1.2 million to help pay for the project.

A new front entrance under an electronic marquee leads to a lobby open to the ceiling of the second floor. The theater proper boasts new carpet, new curtains and new paint. Seats on the lower level are brand new, wider and much cushier than the 1950s-era seats they replaced. The original seats in the balcony — narrow seats of cast iron and wood — were shipped off, refurbished and reinstalled.

The original theater had no dressing rooms, no rehearsal space and no space to build or store props. The refurbished facility does. Other upgrades included new plumbing, heating and air conditioning, sprinklers, light and sound systems and bathrooms.

Even the alley leading to the back of the theater received a makeover, making it easier for everything from pianos to play props to be delivered to the stage. It even got a name: Theatre Way.

Regina Chriscoe, the city’s cultural program assistant, said people who toured the theater on Sept. 21, the first day it was reopened to the public, seemed pleased.

“We’ve had tons of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs,’ ” she said. “We’ve had people that have never seen it before and are amazed with it and we’ve had people that haven’t seen it since 1940 and were amazed with it and we’ve had people that saw it just before it closed last summer and were amazed with it.”

4. Courts and crime

Jan. 28: Nova Nicole Robinson, 31, was stabbed multiple times and bled to death in her home in Asheboro. Police have a person of interest, but no one has been charged.

Feb. 4: Jonathan Heath Simmons, 36, pleaded guilty to lesser charges in the death of Elbert Lawrence Sikes, 75, in August 2007. Sikes was found bludgeoned to death in a dry creekbed near his residence on Hampton Road, Asheboro. Simmons, originally charged with first-degree murder and robbery, is serving a 6-8 year prison sentence.

March 1: Christopher Shannon Garner, 36, was found deceased in the front yard of of his residence on Maness Road in Seagrove. Garner died from blunt force head trauma, was possibly pushed from a vehicle and then dragged. On March 2, Wesley Mark Hussey, 33, and Bobby Hardin Hussey, 55, both of Seagrove, were charged with Garner’s murder and are awaiting trial.

March 8: Donald McCain Spinks, 44, was sentenced to 25-31 years in prison for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1998 that resulted in the birth of a child. A second trial is pending on charges of statutory rape and indecent liberties with a different child in 2007.

April 10: Anthony D. Tuggle, 40, a former Randolph County sheriff’s deputy was charged by the State Bureau of Investigation with obtaining property by false pretense and larceny. Tuggle is accused of selling items that had been stolen from citizens and recovered by deputies, then falsifying paperwork that the items had been returned to the owners. Tuggle is free on bond awaiting trial.

May 29: Matthew Stephen Jones, 34, was charged with robbing Fidelity Bank in Ramseur on April 29 and held for Virginia authorities while they investigated the death of his girlfriend, Desia Rae George, 33, in Carroll County, Va. George’s body was found on May 22 and Jones was indicted by a grand jury in November. Jones is still in Randolph County Jail.

June 28: Ronald Mark Gibbs was found incompetent to stand trial in the death of his stepfather, Robert Slaydon, 87, who was struck in the head, hog-tied and buried in a wooden box in his backyard on New Hope Church Road sometime in June 2007. In March 2011, Gibbs’ mother, Melba Slaydon, pleaded guilty to murder in an agreement that she would serve a life sentence, but her son would not face the death penalty. Gibbs was sent to Central Hospital for treatment and evaluation to be completed by June 2014.

Sept. 16: Patricia Valencia was sentenced to 55-74 months in prison for the death of 12-year-old Roland Benjamin Sierra, who was ejected from Valencia’s car when she struck an interstate sign on Feb. 19, 2011, on Interstate 73-74 near the Sunset Avenue exit. Valencia’s blood alcohol content was over twice the legal limit. With credit for time served while receiving mental health treatment, Valencia could be out of prison in just over two years.

Oct. 9: John Anthony Ward, 56, former principal at Montgomery Learning Academy, took a plea deal on charges of sexual offenses involving a student and was sentenced to two years probation and permission to move to Georgia where he has a job, not in education. Ward must register as a sex offender. Three other Montgomery County Schools employees, James Knight, Zachary Carr and Julius Ryan, were charged with sex offenses involving students in 2013 and are awaiting trial dates.

Dec. 7: Joseph Levi Grantham, 44, was charged in the shooting death of his wife, Constance Olivia Grantham, and attempting to set fire to their home on Woodfern Road near Seagrove on Dec. 6. After two continuances due to Grantham’s emotional state, his court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 22.

Dec. 22: Joan Elizabeth Harris, 63, was found shot to death in her apartment on East Academy Street in Asheboro. The investigation is ongoing.

5. RSPCA

A Randolph County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was formed in 2013 and forged ahead with plans to establish a no-kill animal shelter.

Last summer, the nonprofit group purchased a 9,000-square-foot building on a 3.5-acre parcel at 300 W. Bailey St. in Asheboro.

In addition to a shelter that could house up to 100 dogs and 100 cats at a time until they can be adopted, organizers envision developing a pet community center with a dog park, a pet memorial park and an animal safe hiking trail on the site.

Already up and running: A spay-and-neuter commuter initiative (via a bus that transports pets to Greensboro to be spayed/neutered) and an education program. Coming early this year: A Dogwill/Catwill Thrift Store (donations of gently used furniture, household items, jewelry, toys, books and more — no clothes — are being accepted and volunteers are needed to run the shop). In the works: An RSPCA HotLine.

An estimated $200,000 will be needed to renovate the building, from buying kennels to installation of heating and cooling units.

6. Prayer protest

On Aug. 23 before a Randleman High School football game, Randolph County Board of Education Chair Tommy McDonald did what he had done for years — led fans in a brief prayer before the game. That opened a world of problems for McDonald and the school but brought out a bunch of supporters, too.

Someone had sent McDonald an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) publication earlier in the month that defines the American judicial system’s attitude toward religious observances in public settings, including prayer before school sporting events. Specifically, religious observations are discouraged.

On Sept. 6, a representative from the ACLU sent a letter to the school advising officials that the practice was exclusionary and unconstitutional. At the next home game, McDonald asked the audience to stand for a moment of silence.

However, the dispute spawned a Facebook page, titled Randleman Prays. Many people who came to the games opted to recite the Lord’s prayer aloud at the events that followed.

7. Regional landfill

Residents in the area protested. The project drew critics from environmental groups outside Randolph County. But on Dec. 2, Randolph County commissioners started the final leg of a project to construct a regional landfill on county land off Old Cedar Falls Road near the existing landfill and transfer station. In a 4-to-1 vote, the board accepted the recommendation of partnering with Waste Management, the largest environmental solutions provide in North America, to operate a facility there.

Commissioner Stan Haywood voted against the partnership, citing objections not to the company but to the location of a regional landfill anywhere in the county. Commissioners Darrell Frye said he opposed issuing a zoning permit for the project in May after hearing arguments for and against it. However, a majority of the board supported the project. Frye said in December, “the board has spoken,” and it was time to move on. Commissioners Phil Kemp, Arnold Lanier and Harold Holmes voted in favor of granting a permit for the regional landfill and in favor of partnering with Waste Management.

In the first quarter of 2014, after working out a franchise agreement with Waste Management, the board will still need to vote to approve the contract and hold a public hearing on the proposed partnership.

8. Superintendent changes

The Randolph County School System gained a new leader while Asheboro City Schools began a search for a new superintendent.

Dr. Stephen Gainey became Randolph’s superintendent on July 1, 2013, coming from Wake County Schools where he was assistant superintendent of human resources since January 2009 and also acting/interim superintendent for more than eight months.

He’s been in education for 21 years, previously working for both Alamance-Burlington and Wake schools. He began his educational career as a math teacher and also served as a coach, assistant high school principal, middle school principal and high school principal.

His selection was announced by the Randolph County Board of Education in April as a result of a national search conducted through the N.C. School Boards Association. The school district received applications from 22 candidates, chose seven candidates for the first round of interviews and then narrowed these down to three finalists during the search.

Gainey replaced Donald Andrews who retired from the N.C. system after 38 years in education, his final eight years as superintendent in Randolph County, but took an equivalent job as director of schools for the Cumberland County School System in Crossville, Tenn., in July.

In the Asheboro school district, Dr. Diane Frost announced in October that she would be retiring, effective June 30, 2014, from her superintendent post which she has held since 2000.

She has been with city schools since 1991 and also served as assistant superintendent for five years. She will be stepping down from her post after more than 37 years in public education.

The Asheboro City Board of Education decided in November to also use the N.C. Schools Boards Association for its new superintendent search. The board finalized the national search process in December; the application deadline is Feb. 12, 2014. A survey is currently under way for the board to garner community input on the qualities and characteristics of Asheboro’s next superintendent.

9. 311 Bypass

Construction was delayed several times, but the final link of the U.S. 311 Bypass finally opened to travel Friday, June 11. A ceremony marking the event also made note of the inclusion of Interstates 73/74 in the Blue Star Memorial Highway system.

The project started in 1997 in Mt. Airy. Work began on the final stretch of the bypass, from Cedar Square Road near Glenola to U.S. 220, on Sept. 2, 2008. It was originally scheduled to be completed in October 2012.

The completion of the U.S. 311 Bypass was a long time coming. Randolph County native G.R. Kindley, now retired, sat on the state board of transportation while the project was being designed. After all the planning, the project almost didn’t happen, he said. At one point, it seemed funding would dry up. Kindley said it was only through the application of state Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle ( GARVEE) bonds that the project was able to proceed. GARVEE bonds are issued under the 1995 National Highway System Designation Act.

10. Senior center

Work is under way to transform a former textile manufacturing facility at 173 N. Church St. into the headquarters for the Randolph County Senior Adults Association and a center for a host of activities for seniors.

It will be called the Randolph County Resource and Education Center.

The finished facility will be 30,000 square feet — more than triple the space of current Wainman Avenue quarters occupied since the 1970s. The original factory building is 20,000 square feet on two floors; construction will add 10,000 square feet on the west end of the structure — 5,000 square feet on each level. The new entrance will be on the west end (formerly the back of the building). Target date for completion is early 2014.

Expansion will pave the way for more programs and activities. Hours will be expanded. More activities will be scheduled. More classes offered. And the membership age will be lowered to 50.

On the first floor, a large open space will be used for the weekday congregate meal program. That space will also be used for dances and other community events, such as art shows, flower shows, club meetings, lectures and more. Upstairs, one side of the building will be offices for the senior adults association; on the other side will be offices for the RCSAA-operated Regional Coordinated Area Transportation System (RCATS), which provides public transportation service to Randolph and Montgomery County residents by reservation. In the middle will be shared office and communal space.

Downstairs, there will be a fitness room with exercise equipment and two showers; a room for yoga and tai chi; a recreation room (one of two in the building), with a sofa, TV and perhaps a Wii gaming system; and a room for billiards. The building will have a room dedicated to the health checks. There will be classrooms upstairs, including one with a demonstration kitchen so guest chefs can conduct cooking classes, and a computer lab.

The Greensboro-based Edward M. Armfield Sr. Foundation contributed $1 million to a capital campaign to raise $3 million for the project, which includes purchase of the building and a 3-acre parking lot. The City of Asheboro and Randolph County each pledged half a million.